Origami Cranes support victims from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan

The students of Blue Ridge School District are doing their part to help the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. For the past two weeks, they have been folding dozens of origami cranes as part of relief efforts organized by Students Rebuild and Carter’s clothing company. Students Rebuild challenged young people to send in 100,000 cranes to trigger a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation. The money will go to Architecture for Humanity's reconstruction efforts in Japan, and the cranes will be woven into an art installation. The 100,000 crane goal has already been surpassed, and submissions are still being accepted until April 15. In another project, Carter’s will be donating one article of clothing for every crane they receive. Carter’s will donate up to 50,000 articles of clothing, and will send the cranes to their stores in Japan to display the support of the children who made them. Blue Ridge’s participation in these efforts has been spearheaded by elementary librarian Janelle Tench, who got the idea from Do Something.org, which is one of the largest organizations in the U.S. that helps young people rock causes they care about. Tench says that the project has empowered students’ to recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then realize that they can take action to make a difference in the world. Students in the high school gifted program have also been making cranes during their enrichment time. In total, Blue Ridge students have contributed 172 cranes to the relief efforts. Caption for the picture: Luis Toban, Allyssa Johnson, Micah Mullen, and Kyra Powell from Miss Daniels' fourth grade class, holding the paper cranes they made to contribute to the relief efforts in Japan.

BRES 1st Grade Teacher Recognized for Charitable Efforts with Press Release

FIRST RATE FUNDRAISING FROM FIRST GRADE TEACHER Blue Ridge teacher leads fundraising effort for Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Central New York New Milford, PA.-- Thanks to the fundraising efforts of Blue Ridge Elementary School and first grade teacher Krista Treible, students were able to turn their old soda pop tabs into a charitable donation. A check for $600.00 was presented to the Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Central New York at Blue Ridge Elementary on April 5th for collecting one thousand pounds of aluminum pop tabs. Part of a three year long fundraising project, Mrs. Treible’s class began collecting tabs and what started as a couple of bags in the corner of her classroom soon grew into a school-wide initiative and pop tabs were coming in from other classrooms, families of students and even local businesses donating for the cause. Working with Doug & Cindy Lattner, Owner-Operators of six McDonald’s® restaurants in the Binghamton and Northern Pennsylvania area, a large collection bin was placed outside of the classroom and small cardboard collection houses were given to students so they could collect the tabs from home. The fundraising effort culminated on April 5th with the check presentation and a visit from Ronald McDonald® himself, who performed a show for all students in grades Kindergarten through Second, featuring lessons and songs about many topics such as good character and bullying. With her family having stayed at the Ronald McDonald House when she was in the hospital when she was young, helping to donate to and raise awareness of the Ronald McDonald House has always been a big part of her family’s lives. Her mother, a school nurse, had collected tabs before her and started the ball rolling on a fundraising effort that shows no sign of slowing. “Just since the show on April 5th, we already have half of a barrel full of pop tabs for next time. Don’t be afraid to talk to your local McDonald’s about getting a fundraising program started.” said Mrs. Treible, offering her advice to other teachers interested in starting pop tab collection of their own. For more information on how to get started in pop tab collection at your school, visit your local McDonald’s restaurant or contact the local agency for McDonald’s, Stern Advertising at (315) 445-2491 for details.

On Top of Spaghetti Fun Friday!

Mrs. Rhone’s and Mrs. Skal’s Kindergarten classes welcomed a parent volunteer, Mrs. Anne McCarthy, who supported us with this week’s Fun Friday activity. Mrs. McCarthy assisted us in making spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and meatballs. To begin our adventure, the children traveled to four stations: squeezing tomatoes, peeling carrots & utilizing the garlic press, making spaghetti dough and kneading the dough. Then the student listened to the big book and song, On Top of Spaghetti. After a quick dance to Italian music, the students began mixing ingredients into their meatball. Mrs. McCarthy demonstrated how to use their thumb to make a small whole in the meat for the egg mixture. Our students were careful not to sneeze as they rolled their meatballs. With all kidding aside, the students did practice proper sanitation, table manners and etiquette. In addition, Mrs. McCarthy taught our students several table manner words in Italian. Cranking the handle on a pasta maker was another thrill in their day. The students were fascinated how the spaghetti was hung to dry before it could be cooked. Special thanks to Mrs. Linda Cole-Koloski, our Food Service Manager and her staff for their assistance in cooking the spaghetti and meatballs. We are grateful that Mrs. Cole-Koloski is “always” willing to lend a hand with school cooking activities. Mrs. Rhone and Mrs. Skal enjoy cooking with the children because it is such a memorable experience for them. At the same time, countless state academic standards are being addressed. Thank you Mrs. McCarthy for making this day so enjoyable and beneficial to our students!

Garden Part in Mrs. Treible's 1st grade class

Friday, April 15, Mrs. Treible's Class enjoyed their Garden Party as part of their mini-unit on plants. They made their own strawberry jam, fruit kabobs, and strawberry banana smoothies. They enjoyed a fruit and vegetable float experiment and were shocked when they discovered that a cantaloupe floats, but a tiny raisin sinks. A good time was had by all and everyone's sweet tooth was satisfied!

Miss Dibble's 4th Grade Art Students Participate in 2nd Annual Sea Turtle Project

Fourth Grade students in Ms. Dibble's art class at Blue Ridge Elementary recently completed their second annual Sea Turtle Project. Students created sea turtles out of cardboard, balloons, plaster and paint. They also collected coins during the month of March and adopted a female loggerhead sea turtle named, Patty. Patty's travels can be tracked via satellite through the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Students can view Patty's location at:

http://www.conserveturtles.org/satelliteturtles.php

Students enjoyed learning about sea turtles, creating one of their own and helping an endangered species. Students in the group picture are listed from left to right: Bottom row, Anna Bonner, Mary Kerr, Aleks Carr, Krystal Hepler, Josh Goff, Jeff Zawiski. Second Row, Jillian McAulliffe,William Rudick, Evan Snyder, Ben Gudykunst, Brandon Gelatt, Zach Smith. Third Row, Jasmine Burgess, Ashley Mirra, Brianna Visakay Second Picture: Luis Tobon

PA One Book Author Visits BRES!

Double click on the book cover above to view the activities kindergarten and first grade students did in Library and Computer class. One Book, Every Young Child Reading Initiative. Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job, a photograph concept book by Stephen R. Swinburne for children ages 3 to 6, is Pennsylvania's One Book, Every Young Child 2011 selection. This year's program officially kicks off on March 29, 2011.Published in 2010, this engaging book explores various occupations using simple text and colorful photographs. Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job encourages young readers to guess which shoe matches which job. The selection for this year's Pennsylvania One Book program was Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job by Stephen R. Swinburne. Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job encourages young readers to guess which shoe matches which job. Students in Kindergarten and First grade got prepared to meet Mr. Swinburne during their library classes with Mrs. Tench. In class they read the book, learned about Mr. Swinburne's life, and thought about whose shoes they would wear when they got older. Students then had the opportunity to dress up in the shoes and clothes of their chosen profession, get their picture taken and draw of picture of themselves. Mrs. Tench then put some of their pictures and drawings into a presentation that was shown during Mr. Swinburne's visit to our school. Mrs. Tench and our students had a lot of fun reading Whose Shoes? A Shoe for Every Job and thinking about whose shoes they would like to wear!

Ronald McDonald Visits BRES!

On Tuesday, April 5, 2011, Ronald McDonald stopped by to Blue Ridge Elementary School. He performed a show called "On the Inside" to teach students Pre-K through grade 2 about having good character. Students were delighted to watch and participate in the funny skits, magic tricks, and songs that Ronald performed. He also thanked students for collecting 1,000 pounds of soda pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charity. By recycling these tabs, our students helped raise $600 that was presented to the new Syracuse Ronald McDonald House. Students were surprized and treated with goodie bags filled with safety tips, stickers, and more.

Grade 1 Talent Show (Video)

1st Grade Talent Show

Students in Mrs. Button and Mrs. Orner’s first grade classes read Dooby, Dooby, Moo by Doreen Cronin, a story about cows that performed at a “Talent Show!” This story inspired them to be brave and share a special talent with their friends during their First Grade Talent Show. They had all different talents…guitar players, gymnasts, hool-a-hoopers, singers, violinists, skateboarders and MORE!

Reader's Theater in Mr. Woodruff's 2nd grade classroom

On Friday, April 1st, Mr. Woodruff’s 2nd Grade performed a readers’ theater of the folktale Stone Soup. The themes of the tale are friendship, sharing, and working together. The performance took place in front of a large crowd of parents and family members. Everyone then enjoyed soup that the class made together.